Back to the Basics: The Sommerfield Files
by CrosserX
Summary: Zoe Sommerfield is a 16 year old Sophmore, unpopular, and a Vampire Hunter. Hannibal/Abby, Zoe/OC. Rated T for Strong Language, violence, and probably some SC. Years after Daystar.
1. The Savior in Leather

**I do not own Blade (I,II, or Trinity), the Characters from it; The Black Veil Brides; Crystal Method; or _Watership Down. _**

**"I thought Daystar destroyed all the Vampires?"**

**"It didn't."**

* * *

><p>"<em>What<em> is _that?_" Zoe looked up with a look of irritation. Huge, brown eyes stared back at her.

"What's what?" She asked, exasperated.

"That on your shirt! Is that supposed to be a _band?_"

Zoe looked down at her outfit. It was her normal day clothing; today it was a black shirt with the Black Veil Brides on it, a silver and black pyramid belt wrapped around her purple-and-black stripped tube skirt with purple stockings, and clanky black combat boots that once belonged to Abby. Lots of black and silver bangles clanged noisily from her wrist, and feather earrings hung from her ears. What was wrong with her outfit?

She voiced her question out loud, and the girl in front of her scoffed. "It's all _black!_"

Zoe looked the girl over wearily. Perky blonde ponytail, short little red-and-white skirt with a matching top, white tennis shoes. Not nearly as much eye liner as Zoe. This was Elena Thompson, the head cheerleader. Zoe looked up as the locker room door opened and seven more cheerleaders entered, laughing and flipping their ponytails. Zoe thought of her own dyed-black hair with dark blue and purple streaks, and smiled inwardly. At least _she_ had creativity.

Thunder rumbled overhead, and Zoe saw raindrops hit the window of the locker room. She frowned and sighed. Rain of course meant the cheerleaders would leave practice early. And that meant no alone time for Zoe. The other cheerleaders joined their captain in front of Zoe. Some of them scoffed and others grinned, exchanging looks with each other.

"What are you listening too?" Elena demanded, flipping one perfectly manicured hand at Zoe's iPod.

"Crystal Method," she replied, looking longingly at her book. She was trying to have some down time by skipping her last class of the day and coming to the locker room, where it was _supposed_ to be quiet.

"Did you say Crystal Meth?" A tall brunette sneered.

"Meth_od." _Idiot. "Did you guys want something?"

"This isn't your class," one of them butted in.

"So?" Zoe retorted.

"Are you _skipping?"_

"Are you _dumb?_ What does it look like I'm doing?"

Elena grinned as the other girl flushed with embarrassment. _What. A. Bitch. _Zoe didn't like any of them, especially Elena, who enjoyed others humiliation. Apparently even her best friends.

"We could report you," the girl Zoe had just embarrassed murmured.

"Go ahead," Zoe said, turning her attention back to her copy of _Watership Down._

The girls looked at each other, at loss. Elena leaned forward and plucked the book out of Zoe's hands.

"Hey!" Zoe snapped, standing. "Give that back, it's not mine!"

Elena opened the cover and read aloud. "'Property of Abigail Whistler.' Is she one of those freakshow goth's you live with?"

"They're not freaks," Zoe snapped, snatching her book back. "And they're not goth."

"Aren't they the ones that worship vampires or whatever?" Asked the tall brunette with a snicker.

"We don't _worship _them, stupid, we kill them."

All the girl looked at each other again, and burst out laughing. Zoe flushed, wishing she had never allowed these girls to get her riled up.

Elena snorted with laughed in a very unattractive way. "You people are freaks!" She laughed. "Vampire's don't exist, loser." As the girls laughed, the last bell rang, and all the students and teachers were filling out of classes. Zoe stood, shook her head, and grabbed her black leather tote. She shoved Abby's book in it, then plugged her earphones into her ears and walked for the door.

"That's right, loser!" Elena called after her. "Walk away." Elena's hand brushed the silver stake hidden in her bag. She turned slowly, and the other girls grinned. "What are you going to do, Sommerfield?" Elena taunted. Zoe's eyes stayed calm as, quick, she drew the stake from the bag. The girls gasped and most took a step back. Elena screamed. Zoe took the stake in her hand and threw it.

It flew right over their heads, before connecting with something hidden in the shadows. There was a scream and a burst of flame, the smell of burning flesh, and then a pile of ash. The cheerleaders finally stopped screaming, and Zoe brushed past them to retrieve her stake.

"I-I thought you were going to kill me!" Elena cried.

"I wouldn't waste a perfectly good stake on you," Zoe reassured her calmly. "We have to leave. Now." She started for the door with the girls behind her, and she tried the handle.

"What are you waiting for?" Elena yelped. "Open it!"

"It's locked."

Zoe turned back to the group as the lights cut off. "Stay where you are," she called to the screaming cheerleaders. She pulled something from her bag, and the area they were standing was suddenly flooded with white light.

"What is that thing?" Elena gaped.

"It's a UV lamp," Zoe replied, kicking each foot against a locker. The blades came out of the tips, and she clicked a button on her bracelet. It expanded to wrap her wrist. The cheerleaders gapped at her. She pulled a Trinity Blade from her pocket and pressed it into Elena's palm. "If anyone comes near, aim this at them and push the button."

"What about you?" Elena asked.

"Don't worry," Zoe said, picking the lamp up to inspect her stake. "I'll be fine."

"Fine, whatever, but you have to protect _us_!" Zoe rolled her eyes and started down the hall. She turned the lamp off and listened. She heard footsteps off to the right, and she lashed out with her fist. There was a grunt, and a fist caught her jaw. Zoe drew her foot back, and kicked them in the stomach. They let go with a screech of pain before bursting into flame.

Zoe spat some blood on the floor before standing. Arms wrapped around her throat, choking her, before she let something fall from her hand. She stomped on it, and a burst of UV light caused the vampire behind her to explode. Zoe dusted some ash from her hair before returning to the cheerleaders.

Elena must have heard her coming, because she gave a screech and shot the Trinity Blade at Zoe. Zoe was expecting it, and she caught the blade in her hand. "It's me," she called, walking up to a very pale Elena. Thunder crashed right overhead, and everyone but Zoe screamed. "Come on," Zoe said, putting her foot to the door, kicking it open. "We have to get out of the school." She led the girls down the hall, away from the gym, and tried the door to the outside. "Locked, again. There should be another door out, in the office."

"The office is on the other side of the school!" Elena wailed. "And the electricity has been cut off."

"They don't like light," Zoe said matter of factly.

"Who doesn't?" Elena asked.

There was a snarl from overhead, and Zoe's eyes were just adjusting. But she could feel and hear. One of the cheerleaders screamed and Zoe whipped around, stabbing a vampire in the back with a stake. He burst into flame, and Zoe helped the girl it had been on up. "Are you okay?" Zoe demanded. "He didn't bite you, did he?"

The girl shook her head, and Zoe gave a breath of relief.

"Are they vampires?" A girl asked quietly.

"Yeah," Zoe said. She headed toward the kitchen.

"W-where are you going?" squeaked Elena, running after her. Zoe ignored her, opening the spice cabinet. She pulled out four containers towards the back, then took them back into the group and spread some out among them.

"They're severely allergic to garlic," Zoe explained. "That's what the spices are. I don't know how many there are, but if one comes at you, dump it on their face and I'll stake 'em. Got it?"

She turned and led them up the hall before stopping short at the first class room. "What's wrong?" hissed Elena. Zoe sniffed the air, smelling the unmistakable stench of blood. She kicked the class room door open and held the lamp up. Elena screamed. Their math teacher, Mr. Ralley, lay on the floor with his throat bleeding. Zoe leaned next to him and held his wrist, feeling for a pulse.

"He's alive," she said bluntly.

"So we can help him?" asked a girl towards the back.

"Yeah," Zoe said, feeling a bit choked. She held her stake above Mr. Ralley's heart, and heard Elena scream.

"_What are you doing to him?"_

"I have to finish him off," Zoe said quietly.

"You're going to kill him?"

"I have too!" Zoe said harshly, before driving the stake deep into the teacher's heart. Elena gasped and sobbed into her hands.

"It's the same fate for you if we don't go now!" growled Zoe. She led them out. Zoe took Elena's arm as the others filed out. "Listen, Elena," Zoe said. "If you see one of them bite me, kill them, and then kill me."

"What?" Gasped Elena.

"You heard me. Stake the Vampire, then stake me, then get the girls out. Understand?"

Elena was quite before swallowing and nodding. Some of the girls were crying, some sobbing, while the others looked around in a daze. They were almost to the office, Zoe could see the glowing exit sign . . .

There was a crash and the girls screamed. Zoe smelled garlic as it spilled across the floor; some of the vampires screamed, and Zoe felt a well of satisfaction. She was about to drive a stake through ones heart when another pulled her off. She snarled as she felt teeth graze her neck.

Suddenly the teeth were gone, the grip was gone, and all's there was a bursting pile of ash. Zoe gasped for breath as she fell onto the floor. She looked at the leather boots in front of her, bringing her gaze up to the leather jacket and stakes on his hip.

"You alright? Sommerfield, are you alright?"

"Fine," she rasped, standing. She shook her head and looked up at his dark face. She couldn't see anything else but the shadow of his face, and the gleam of sunglasses and silver stakes . . .

Zoe turned back towards the others at the sounds of screaming. "There's a whole team of teenage girls in here!" She shouted, running back to them.

"Was there anyone else?" Asked the figure.

"A teacher had been bitten. I . . . I staked him . . ."

"Good."

Zoe spun as a vampires hand came down on her shoulder, and she ran it through with her wrist blade. She turned to her right and ducked as another vampire went flying over her head from where it had been thrown. Zoe looked at the figure a few feet away, and he shrugged and turned back to fight. Zoe did the same, grabbing some garlic powder off the floor and shoving it into a vampires face before stabbing it with a stake. One vampire tried to grab her from behind, and she slit his foot open with the blade on her shoe before she turned and staked it, too. She looked around and saw that the fighting had stopped. The savior in leather was messing with a box on the wall, and the lights came back on. Zoe looked around, breathing heavily. The girls were shaken and frightened, but other than that, they amazingly looked okay. They were all staring at the leather-clad, tattooed man in front of them. Zoe looked back towards him.

"Blade . . . The camera's . . ."

"I disenabled them when I came in," he said, looking around. "Is everyone alright?"

"Who the hell are you?" Elena stepped forward. Her cheer uniform was torn, and her ponytail had fallen out, her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders.

"This is Blade," Zoe said with a small smile. "The Vampire Hunter."


	2. Whats a Vampire?

**I do not own Deacon Frost, Abigail Whistler, Hannibal King, Zoe Sommerfield, Dex, Hedges, or Blade! I _do_ own David Barnes and Hugh King!**

**I also do not own _The Emerald City of Oz._  
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Zoe leaned by the door to the lab. Blade and she had gotten the girls home safe, and now they were back at the base, but stupid Hannibal said they needed to talk to Blade about this "In private." Zoe leaned closer to the door, her ear pressed to it.

"Why would they be attacking a school?" Zoe heard Abby ask.

"The Vampires are recruiting," Blade responded. "Newer. Younger. More agile."

"The cheerleaders," Abby realized aloud.

"They could be picking kids off the streets right now," Hannibal said.

"They are," Blade said.

Zoe heard Hannibal hit his head against the table. "This is so fucked up."

"There's that and the fact the last thing we need is more vampires," Abby said. "What about Hugh? And Zoe? Hannibal, you can't tell me you're not worried!"

"Of course I am," he replied.

"Yeah, well, so am I," Blade said. "You need to _see_ these shits. Some of them have evolved, faster and stronger and three times as deadly. They also need more blood, and it's got to be fresh."

"Do we know where the base it?" Abby asked.

"No idea. It's a work in progress. Don't worry, Whistler. I don't think they've found this place yet . . ."

"Zoe? What are you doing on the floor?"

Zoe sat up quickly. "Hugh," she breathed, looking into the deep green eyes of Abby and Hannibal's little boy. The little toe-headed boy looked up at her, toting his teddy bear behind him. He was rubbing his eyes, a sleepy look in them, and his hair was a tousled mess.

"I was just looking for my earring," She said, lifting him onto her hip. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I was having bad dreams," The four year old said, yawning and laying his head on Zoe's shoulder. She carried him to his bedroom, setting him on his new "Big-boy Bed."

"Will you lay down with me?" Hugh asked. "Mommy's with Mr. Blade and Daddy . . ."

Zoe crawled into bed next to him, and he snuggled up to her. "Zoe?"

"Yes, Hugh?"

"Where did Mr. Blade come from?"

"I'm not sure," she replied after a moment.

"Is he nice?"

"I think so."

Hugh nodded, as though reassured. "Good," he yawned. "I don't like bullies."

Zoe frowned, remembering that he had some trouble with other kids teasing him in his pre-school class. "Me either."

"Vampires are bullies, Zoe, aren't they?"

Zoe pulled away, looking Grant in his eyes. "What makes you say that?"

"I heard Mommy and Daddy talking about Vampires," He yawned again. "They sounded mean."

"They are."

"Zoe?"

"Yeah?"

"What's a Vampire?"

* * *

><p>Zoe had school off the next few days so the school could fix the damage done by "Vandals" and investigate the murder of Mr. Ralley. Hannibal had been sulking, and Abby was constantly keeping her eyes on Hugh. Zoe didn't see much of Blade, but then again, she didn't expect to. He was Blade. A loner.<p>

Zoe borrowed the car from Hannibal around three one day, claiming to go out and get some groceries for them. She offered to pick up Blades serum, because she was secretly dying to find out where it came from now that her mother was dead, but he just grunted and shook his head. Zoe shrugged and left the house. She drove around for a bit, just for the sake of keeping busy, before stopping and parking near the docks. There was a vamp club about two blocks down, and she was in the mood to stake something. As she walked towards the entrance when the sun finally sank, her eye caught the vampire mark on the wall. She made herself comfortable next to the entrance, pulling the fake fangs from her pocket and putting them over her canines. They had been specially designed to look exactly like vampires, and they were great for disguise. Four vampires were coming her way, but before she got the chance to even touch her stake, someone grabbed her arm and whipped her around into the dark alley way. "Let go!" She snarled, then stopped when a wooden stake was positioned right under her throat. She brought her foot down on her attacker and slid out of the way just before the stake could hit her heart.

"Come on," a males voice from the shadows said. "Let's dance, suckhead." He lunged at her, and she ducked behind him before grabbing the fire escape ladder above her and using it to swing her feet into his back. He landed face down on the concrete before rolling over, spitting blood out of his mouth. With a yell, Zoe flung herself from the latter to jump on him, but he rolled out of the way. She stayed balanced on her feet before darting after him as he climbed up the escape latter. He kept going until they reached the roof, where Zoe flipped herself off the latter and barreled into him. He rolled over on top of her, the moon outlining his face, and he grabbed his stake.

"Any last words, blood sucker?"

"Yeah," Zoe said, and she rolled him off of her. "I'm not a vampire!"

"Bullshit," he said, backing away once they were both on their feet.

Zoe pulled the fake teeth off and threw them on the ground. The guy took a step back. "Oh . . ." He looked up at her. "Who . . .?"

"I'm a Nightstalker, idiot!" She snapped, crossing her arms. "God!"

"A _Nightstalker?_ Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No," she said dryly. "Who are _you_?"

"Um, David. David Barnes. I just go by Barnes. What's your name?"

"Zoe."

"Just Zoe?"

"Sommerfield."

"Right. Um." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry about attacking you. Thought you were a vampire. . ."

"You don't say?" She remarked. They were silent, and finally Zoe pointed at the stake in his hand. "Silver works better, you know."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Well, it's kinda hard to afford silver these days." He rubbed his arm. "So, anyways, sorry. Next time I'll take a better look."

"Blade's in town," Zoe said suddenly.

Barnes looked surprised. "Blade? Back here? I thought he was in Africa investigating?"

"So you know you're stuff." Barnes looked embarrassed, realizing he was being tested.

"I've been hunting for three years now," he said. "Since I was fifteen. They killed my parents."

"They murdered my mother, too."

They looked at each a moment before Zoe pulled another silver stake from her bag. "Here, keep this. It's better than wood." She held it out.

He took it cautiously, then nodded. "Thank you."

Zoe nodded and turned. "Well, see you."

"Can I see you again?"

Zoe looked over her shoulder. "Why?"

"I-I thought maybe we could hunt together? Sometime?"

She blinked, then shrugged. "Okay. This Saturday at Central Park."

"See you then."

Zoe paused, gave a nod, then climbed down the latter.

* * *

><p>"Where the hell have you been?" King crossed his arms when Zoe walked in the door.<p>

"Out," she said, throwing her bag on the table.

"Out where?"

"Just out, okay?"

"Fine. Did you at least stake anything?"

"Not tonight."

King shrugged. "You scared the shit out of Abby. When she saw you pull in she was so pissed, she sent Hugh to bed and then went to practice on the shooting range.

Crap. "Well, I'm home now," Zoe said. "What's the problem?"

"Is it a boy? Do we need to have a talk?"

"Yes. I would love the sex talk."

"The dick goes in the vagina. There, sex talk."

Zoe snorted and kissed Kings cheek. "Thanks for looking out for me," she said earnestly. "But I'll be ok."

"I know," he said. "I just get the hell scared out of me when I think of something happening to you."

"Then don't," she smiled sweetly, and headed up to bed. She met Blade at the top of the staircase, and he looked at her.

"Which club were you at?"

"I – Equilibrium on Fourth." No use lying, he'd know.

"You want to stay away from there," he warned. "That's one of Frosts old places."

"Frost is dead," she said flatly.

"Some of his methods aren't. Just watch yourself, kid. We can't have you fucking up the operation."

"Why can't you just be nice?"

"The world isn't nice."

Zoe grinned ruefully. She constantly asked this, and she always wound up with the same answer.

Zoe went to her room, dressed for bed, and got under her covers. She thought of Dex and Hedges and her mother. She reached under her bed, pulling out an old, braille copy of _The Emerald City of Oz. _

Her mother had been reading it to her the night she died. Abby had finished reading it to her eventually, but Zoe's heart squeezed with grief whenever she saw the book. She could remember the smell of her mother's perfume, and the way she ran her fingers over the braille, not missing a beat. Zoe ran her hand over the cover lovingly, before stashing back under the bed and flipping off the light.


	3. The Fire Started with the Vamps

"Have you ever thought about milk?" Hannibal frowned, looking at the back of the milk carton, reading it. "We drink it all the time. But it's kinda like breast feeding." Abby and Zoe stopped with their spoons halfway to their mouths. They stared at him for a moment before he elaborating.

"'Cause it's milk," he explained. "It comes from tits. Baby's breast feed, right? So aren't we?"

"Alright, conversation stop," Zoe said, standing and putting her bowel in the sink. "I don't want to think about where my milk comes from, especially if _you_ have anything to do with the explanation."

"How's everyone doing this morning?" Caulder asked, jogging into the room, his blonde hair shaggy and his eyes bright.

"We're having a conversation about milk," Hannibal said. "It's _utterly _fascinating."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at King.

"Oh, sweetie," Abby said with a sad shake of her head. "Never say that again."

"What? What? It was _good!_"

Zoe sighed, leaving the room. She headed straight for the armory, opening the heavy door, and closing it and locking it behind her. She closed her eyes, then felt his presence. She opened her eyes, allowing them to wonder to where Blade was watching her carefully from across the room. "Sorry," she said, standing up straight. "I didn't mean to intrude . . ."

He didn't say anything, and she wondered over to him, looked down at the table he was in front of. "Whats this . . .?"

"Enhanced UV grenade," he said, hooking two wires together. "It'll set off the light for two hundred feet."

"That's interesting," she said, looking down at it. "Have you thought of expanding the grenade?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Zoe said, taking it and spinning it in her hand. "If you were to expand the size of the grenade, you could fit silver hollow points into it, like what Abigail uses with her bow. We could set them like missiles to detect vampires' body heat, like night vision goggles. Once the grenade went off, the points could detect the body heat if any suckheads were still alive, and go off. Then there would be a backup."

Blade looked thoughtful. "I . . . hadn't thought of it," he admitted. "Do you think Caulder could install it?"

"Sure," Zoe said with a shrug.

"What do you want to call it?"

Zoe was shocked. _Blade_ was asking _her _to name a new weapon?

"Erm . . . How about a Day Buster? If it's alright with you," she added quickly.

"Sounds great. I'll have Caulder fix it up." Blade put it on the table, then looked back at Zoe. "How you been?"

She crossed her arms, uncomfortable. "Okay, I guess."

"You think about your mother a lot?"

"All the time."

"Her death was unnecessary."

"Her death was punishment," Zoe retorted. She paused, then shrugged a bit sadly. "Most kids have a mother while growing up."

Blade took off his sunglasses. Holy Shit. _Blade took off his sunglasses!_

"I know how you feel," he finally said.

"No one knows how I feel," she said bluntly.

"I had to kill my mother."

Zoe said nothing to that. Her mother had been murdered, unfairly and gruesomely, but to kill your own mother. . .

"When Caulder told me Daystar only worked on some vampires I about killed myself," Zoe sighed.

"I just killed a bunch of suckheads."

"I did that, too."

Zoe sighed, looking at Blade. He replaced his sunglasses, and was walking towards the door. He stopped when Zoe spoke. "You're never around," she observed.

"There's a world needing of saving out there, kid."

"The world isn't nice." She frowned and walked up to him, cautiously touching his shoulder. He stiffened but didn't move away. "Take a break from saving the world sometime and just . . . _visit."_ And with that she shrugged, brushing past him, and left the room.

* * *

><p>Hugh ran his fire truck around the floor of his bedroom as Zoe pushed the ambulance right behind it.<p>

"There's a fire!" Hugh exclaimed with a fire truck noise, running his truck to the box that had been a burning building four times now. "Oh, no! There are vampires in there! They must have started the fire! Zoe, get the ambulance!"

Zoe smiled to herself before pushing the truck towards Hugh, who made water-resembling sounds. "Yayy, we put out the fire and saved the humans! They're having a big party to honor us, and Mommy and Daddy and Mr. Blade and Caulder will all be there . . ."

Zoe was barley paying attention anymore. A red light above Hugh's door was flashing silently. There was an intruder!

"Hugh?" She said calmly.

"Yeah?"

"Remember how I told you that if I tell you to hide, you do it?"

"Yeah."

"Go hide."

He blinked up with his huge eyes, then nodded, standing and jumping towards the closet. "Stay there until I come and get you, Hugh." Zoe stood, walking down the hall catiously, before opening her door and grabbed the UV Arch from where it was leaning beside the door, and a few stakes. She met Hannibal in the hall.

"Is Hugh hiding?" Hannibal demanded as they ran briskly down the hall.

"Yes, he's fine. Who's there?" She asked Blade and Abby, who were near the door. There was a pounding on the door. A weak voice was coming from the other side.

"Help, please . . ."

"Move," Zoe said, flinging the door open. The woman on her knee's was a mess. Rags were all that covered her body, and a shoe was missing. Her eye was purple, and lip trickled from her lip. Her blonde hair was tasseled and sticky with blood. "Oh my God," Zoe whispered. "Piper . . ."

"Who is this?" Caulder demanded, stepping forward.

"Give her some space!" Zoe snapped, helping the girl up. She helped her into the hideout, and looked at Abby. "Please, help her! She's my sister!"


	4. Brought to You by Karen Jenson

Zoe didn't think Piper would ever wake up. Zoe couldn't stand this much. It squeezed her heart as she watched her, listening to the equipment. There was a knock on the door, and Zoe looked up as Abby gave a weak smile from the door. "Hey, kiddo." She sat next to Zoe. They sat in silence before Abby finally spoke.

"I never knew John had another daughter."

"We never see much of each other," Zoe said blankly. "She's from dad's first wife . . . She's seven years older than I am. We didn't start making contact until dad . . . until dad died."

"Your mother never talked about her . . ."

"Mom liked to keep to herself." She cleared her throat and blinked tears back. "You didn't find any bite marks on her?"

"No. She was torn up, but I don't think any vampire had gotten a chance to actually take any blood."

Zoe nodded, relieved. She sat with Piper a few more minutes before standing. "I'm going out for a bit," she muttered.

Zoe drove to Central Park and waited a few minutes before David finally showed up. "Hey," he said, looking her up and down. "You're . . . not armed."

"No," Zoe agreed, shaking her head. "I can't hunt tonight; I came to rescdule."

"Why?" Barnes asked.

Zoe raised an eyebrow.

Barnes face turned red, and Zoe suppressed a smile.

"That was nosey," He said. "Sorry."

"My sisters in town," Zoe said simply.

He nodded. "I see. Another time, then, Zoe Sommerfield."

"Yeah," Zoe said as he walked away. "Another time."

* * *

><p>"Holy shit, that's one ugly motherfucker." Hannibal squinted at the picture. "What's up with its chin? It looks like something Jarko Grimwoods Pomeranian thing puked up."<p>

"It's called a Reaper," Caulder explained. "I guess that would have been before your time as a Nightstalker."

"I heard of 'em," Hannibal said, looking a bit closer at the picture. "They were causing some big commotion when I was under the fang, but I was too busy playing hide-the-salami with Danica to be bothered with it."

Zoe rolled her eyes and Abigail glared, but Kind didn't or pretended to not take any notice of it. "So what's the problem?" He asked.

"The Vampires think they can re-create this virus by brining it's original carrier back to life," Caulder said.

"Nomak," Blade said, crossing his arms.

"Who's Nomak?" Zoe dared to ask.

"He was the original Reaper virus carrier," Blade said. "Jared Nomak. They just don't get it, do they? He killed himself. He don't want to be here."

"It's all a plan for the dominant race," Caulder said.

"How do they plan on resurrecting them?" Blade demanded.

"The Temple of Eternal Night."

"Can it work?"

"Maybe," Caulder replied. "I'm still researching."

"Then theres one thing to do," Blade said, and he pulled his sword from his back. "Slice'n'dice."

Hannibal grinned. "We got this shit."

"I'm bringing in an old associate," Blade said. "She can help Caulder with the research."

"Great. We'll need as much help as we can get," Abby nodded.

* * *

><p>"In my research in building up the cure, I found out that, as you know, only turned vampires can be cured. Since Vampirism is more like a disease, transferred from salvia, it can have a treatment. The cure will stop a vampire cold turkey from the Thirst, as Blade proved with Whistler. I don't know how a used-to-be vampire would react to it, though . . ." Karen Jenson tugged at her hair nervously. Zoe agreed with the Doctor. A vampire who had built its life up to being just that, a vampire, suddenly human again? That's just pissing in the Cheerios.<p>

Hannibal voiced this out loud, and Blade shrugged. "We can handle them if they're human."

"Great," Karen said dryly. "Kill more humans. That's just great." She shook her head and sat down. "I'm sorry, Blade. We've been working on this all night."

"You're doing fine," Blade told her, and Zoe could swear she heard care in his voice.

Karen smiled weakly. "Yeah, well, I'm glad _you_ appreciate it. . ." She shook her head. "Don't think I don't remember those Reapers, even if I wasn't with you then. Killing people off the streets . . ." She sighed, going back to her research. "Hows the serum I designed working?"

Blades eyes slid to Zoe, and she pretty much figured that was her cue to leave. She stood and walked out of the room with Hannibal. "Is Piper awake yet?"

"Not yet," Hannibal said, ruffling her hair. She nodded and went up to her bedroom. If it was the time to dig up old memories, then it was time for her to fight back.

And this time, the Gnome King would stay buried.


	5. Deacon's Grand Entrance

**I do not own Blade, yadda yadda yadda. Nor Do I own Deacon Frost, Karen Jensen, that Dumbass Quinn, and so on and so forth. **

Zoe's watch beeped at exactly one AM. She shoved the covers off of her. She was already dressed in some flexible black stretch pants and a black baby T. She grabbed her backpack and snuck downstairs. She checked on Piper, and then snuck out the door. She started the car, pulled out, and started for the docks.

David was waiting for her. She parked the car and shrugged her pack back on her back. "Thanks for coming," she said gratefully. "Here," she said, handing him a band of silver stakes. "Silver, tipped with garlic." She handed him a pair of night vision goggles. "We're going to need those where we're going."

Zoe and David walked down the busy New York streets, catching their cab. It took them as far as possible, and David and Zoe started down the less crowded streets again. "Here's the plan," Zoe said. "We get into the temple, lace the place with bombs, and get out. The Vampires can't resurrect anything if there's no temple to do it with."

David nodded. "Sounds like a plan. . ."

Zoe took a deep breath. This was it. This was her plan, her mission. And it would work.

It had too.

Zoe hadn't known what to expect – but with her luck, it figured the whole damn temple was crawling with the vampires. She looked at David, who nodded, and they started scaling the walls. They stopped on the roof, opened the hatch, and slid down the ladder. "We'll start in the main chamber," Zoe whispered. David nodded, and they started for the bottom. They slowly approached the chamber around a corner, and Zoe gabbed Davids arm, signaling for him to stop.

Vampires filled the chamber, and they were chanting quietly. Zoe looked around. It was as though time had stopped here: Ash still littered the floor, as did silver stakes. There was a large blood stain in the middle of the chamber, glass gathered around it.

The torches dimmed and finally went out as the chanting grew louder. Zoe watched in horror as the torches erupted again, and the spot where the blood stain was boiling. The blood staining the floor was in the air, as though gravity didn't exist, and Zoe's stomach clenched as pieces of skin and bone flew towards the blood, covering it. It started to take the shape of a man. Zoe looked around the chamber, and was horrified to see the same thing was happening all over the chamber. Bodies were reforming: A burly man's head was being reattached, his braids flinging around his head; a blonde, fair woman was gasping for breath as she looked around frantically. All around them, vampires were reforming. Right in the middle of it, a man with brown, messy hair and shinning eyes –and fangs – was embracing his body again. He smiled, his fangs gleaming, as he clapped the vampires that had been chanting on the backs.

"Wow, you guys are just so fuckin' thoughtful," he said, his arms draped around two of them like they had known each other for years. Zoe looked at David to see his face reflecting her own horror.

"Is that –?"

"Uh-huh," Zoe said, and just then she felt like vomiting. "Forget the mission; we have to get back to the base a report this!"

"Hell-o, what have we here? A couple of young vampire hunters?" Zoe jumped, startled, at the voice right behind her. She turned her head to look at him. The man had a sarcastic smirk, and there was a lazy air about him.

He leaned forward towards her neck. Zoe was frozen, petrified, as he ran his nose across her bare shoulder and up her neck, inhaling deeply. "Smells like Blade." He took her head in his hand and looked her in the eyes. "I'd guess Vampire by the way you dress, but you smell human."

"Vampirism is a disease!" She spat.

"It's a blessing," he whispered to her.

"Keep your blessing, Frost. Get your damn hands off me."

He smiled, his fangs gleaming again. "I'm flattered. What's your name, kid?"

"None of your business!" She snapped, and shoved him. Frost allowed her to do so; she knew he could have held her there. But instead, he allowed her to take a few steps back.

"I like your spirit. Take the boy, do what you want. I'll take the Hunter myself." Frost grabbed Zoe by her upper arm and pulled her along. "I expect to have a full chamber ready for me when I return!" He shouted as he pulled Zoe out the door. He stopped, shaking his head. "A Porsche. I guess they could have done worse . . ." He shrugged and pushed Zoe into the frost passanger seat, then got around to the driver's seat and had the car started before Zoe could even blink. "I've evolved a bit since last time I was here, so you know," he said, revving the car and speeding out of the area. "So, you know, if you try and run or anything . . ." Zoe glared at him, leaning her head against the window. Plan, plan, need a plan . . .

"So tell me, Zoe," Frost said, and Zoe looked at him. His eyes drifted to her wristband, the one that had her name in curvy letters that her mother had given to her. Frosts eyes went back to the road. "Zoe. Why is such a beautiful young lady hunting Vampires of all things?"

She just glared at him. After a moment, he tried again. "Guess you're working with Blade, huh? Hey, outta curiosity, did Whistler ever turn? I mean, I bet Quinn like three hundred dollars he would, and –"

"They cured him," Zoe said blankly. "They found Whistler, and they cured him."

Frosts lip curled. "Oh, right. Karen Jenson's miracle cure. Guess it works, huh? So what's the old man up too these days?"

"He's dead."

"Guess the cancer finally caught up to him, then?"

"He died doing what he was best at: Fighting."

"Well, that's a bright side," Frost said, narrowly dodging a cab. "Now I don't have to put up with him; he was half the threat."

Zoe smiled a bit.

Frost looked at her, then back at the road. "What? The old man was a crazed jackass with a shotgun."

"You haven't met his daughter, then."

The car screeched to a stop, and Frost was suddenly on her side of the car, yanking her out of the car. Zoe looked at the building they were in front of. It was the Nightstalkers base!

"You're not going to kill me?" She asked.

"Nah," Frost smirked. "But, I want you to give Blade a message from his old buddy D." He grabbed her by the neck so hard it lifted her off the ground. She coughed, clutching at his hand as he brought her face inches from hers. "Tell Blade that we're back on top, and if he has the good grace to give it up, we'll spare him and his friends." He released her, and Zoe fell to the ground, coughing and choking. Frost dug his fingernails down her arm and her stomach, and she screamed. Frost calmly got in the car and drove off, leaving Zoe on the ground with her arm and belly gushing blood.

Things were getting hazy when she saw Blade running out the door, getting closer to her. She lifted her head at him. "B-Blade . . . help me." Blade leaned down, taking her in his arms. She let her head loll onto his chest. A trickle of blood was coming from her mouth as he walked towards the door. He kicked it shut behind him, and Abby came running downstairs, tying her robe.

"What in the world is going on – Zoe . . .!" Hannibal came in behind Abby, heat and anger surging in his eyes.

Karen was clearing a medical table. "Lay her down here," she demanded. "Shes losing to much blood."

"Zoe," King said, stroking her hair back from her face. "Baby, who did this to you?"

She tried to talk, and nothing came out. She coughed for a minute before shuddering. "D-Deacon Frost."

Karen stiffened, exchanging a look with Blade. He frowned. "He's dead."

"Vampires b-brought him b-back. . . him and others . . ."

"Shit. Quinn."

Karen shook her head, muttering something about motherfucking vampires, as she cleaned Zoe's wounds.

"Did Frost bite you?" she demanded.

"No. He wanted me to tell Blade . . . That he would spare us if he gave up."

"So what do we do?" demanded Abby.

"What else can we do?" Blade replied. "We hunt."


End file.
